Stationary target assembly

ABSTRACT

A stationary target assembly includes an assembly support frame having a main frame member and a target support frame member provided on the main frame member and a pair of spaced-apart simulated targets provided on the target support frame member of the assembly support frame.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional patentapplication No. 60/931,689, dated May 25, 2007.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to targets used in the practice of aimingguns. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a stationarytarget assembly which facilitates practice in the mounting and aiming ofa gun at a moving target.

BACKGROUND

Shooting of a moving target such as a clay pigeon or a flying fowl witha shotgun requires a high degree of skill in mounting and aiming of theshotgun at the target. A shooter may have a tendency to either shootbehind or ahead of the moving target, particularly in the case of afast-moving target such as a clay pigeon. Therefore, consistent timingof the mounting and aiming of the shotgun and pulling of the triggerwith striking of the target typically requires repetitive practice inmounting and aiming of the shotgun.

Accordingly, a stationary target assembly is needed which facilitatespractice in the mounting and aiming of a gun at a moving target.

SUMMARY

A stationary target assembly includes an assembly support frame having amain frame member and a target support frame member provided on the mainframe member and a pair of spaced-apart simulated targets provided onthe target support frame member of the assembly support frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will now be made, by way of example, with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of an illustrative embodiment of the stationarytarget assembly;

FIG. 1A is an enlarged sectional view, taken along section line 1A inFIG. 1, more particularly illustrating an exemplary technique forattaching a target support frame member to a frame extension of thestationary target assembly;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the stationary target assembly;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the stationary target assembly, moreparticularly illustrating a vertical adjustment capability of theassembly;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the stationary target assembly, moreparticularly illustrating a swivel attachment of a target support framemember to an assembly support frame (not illustrated) of the assembly;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view, taken along section lines 5-5 in FIG.1, of a main frame member of the assembly;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the stationary target assembly, moreparticularly illustrating variable placement capability of a pair oftargets on the target support frame member of the assembly;

FIG. 7 is a top view of the stationary target assembly, moreparticularly illustrating variable placement capability of the targetson the target support frame member of the assembly;

FIG. 8 is a front view (partially in section) of the stationary targetassembly, with a stake element of the stationary target assemblyinserted in the ground in typical application of the assembly;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the stationary target assembly, moreparticularly illustrating aiming of a shotgun at a first target on thestationary target assembly in typical application of the stationarytarget assembly;

FIG. 10 is a top view of the stationary target assembly, moreparticularly illustrating aiming of a shotgun at a second target on thestationary target assembly in typical application of the stationarytarget assembly;

FIG. 11 is a front view of an alternative illustrative embodiment of thestationary target assembly, with a first target shaped in theconfiguration of a fowl and a second target shaped in the configurationof a sphere provided on the target support frame member of the assembly;

FIG. 12 is a top view of the stationary target assembly illustrated inFIG. 11, more particularly illustrating aiming of a shotgun at the firsttarget on the stationary target assembly in typical application of thestationary target assembly;

FIG. 13 is a top view of the stationary target assembly illustrated inFIG. 11, more particularly illustrating aiming of a shotgun at thesecond target on the stationary target assembly in typical applicationof the stationary target assembly;

FIG. 14 is a front view of another alternative illustrative embodimentof the stationary target assembly, with first and second targets shapedin the configuration of a water fowl provided on the target supportframe member of the assembly; and

FIG. 15 is a front view of an illustrative tripod embodiment of thestationary target assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-10 of the drawings, an illustrativeembodiment of the stationary target assembly is generally indicated byreference numeral 1. The stationary target assembly 1 includes anassembly support frame 2 having a generally elongated main frame member2 a and a generally elongated target support frame member 14 which isprovided on the main frame member 2 a. The longitudinal axis of thetarget support frame member 14 may be oriented in generallyperpendicular relationship with respect to the longitudinal axis of themain frame member 2 a. At least one simulated target 21 is provided onthe target support frame member 14. In typical application of thestationary target assembly 1, which will be hereinafter described, afirst simulated target 21 a and a second simulated target 21 b areprovided on the target support frame member 14 at a selected leadspacing with respect to each other. A practice shooter (not illustrated)stands at a distance from the stationary target assembly 1 andrepeatedly mounts and aims a shotgun 26 (FIGS. 9 and 10) first at thefirst simulated target 21 a and then at the second simulated target 21 bin motions which simulate sighting of a clay pigeon or other movingtarget preparatory to shooting of the moving target with the shotgun 26.The first target 21 a represents the position of the moving target whenthe trigger of the shotgun is depressed, whereas the second simulatedtarget 21 b represents the position of the moving target when thepellets (not illustrated) from the shotgun reach the moving target.Therefore, repeated sighting of the first simulated target 21 a and thesecond simulated target 21 b by the practice shooter facilitatestraining of the practice shooter in accurately shooting a moving targetthe positions of which generally correspond to the positions of thefirst simulated target 21 a and the second simulated target 21 b whenthe trigger of the shotgun 26 is depressed and the pellets from theshotgun reach the moving target, respectively. Each simulated target 21may be detachable with respect to the target support frame member 14 tofacilitate placement of the simulated targets 21 a at a selected leadspacing with respect to each other as will be hereinafter described.

The main frame member 2 a of the assembly support frame 2 includes agenerally elongated base frame member 8. The target support frame member14 is attached to the assembly support frame 2 typically in a mannerwhich will be hereinafter described. In some embodiments, the base framemember 8 extends through a frame mount sleeve 3. A stake 4, having astake insertion tip 5, extends from the frame mount sleeve 3. In typicalapplication of the stationary target assembly 1, which will behereinafter described, the stake 4 is inserted in the ground 24 (FIG. 8)to support the stationary target assembly 1 in a generally vertical,upward-standing configuration. However, other techniques known by thoseskilled in the art may be used to support the stationary target assembly1 in an upward-standing configuration on the ground 24 or other supportsurface (not illustrated).

In some embodiments, the main frame member 2 a of the assembly supportframe 2 is height-adjustable and may be selectively deployed in theextended configuration illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 8 or the collapsedconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 1, depending on the desired height ofthe simulated target or targets 21 above the ground 24 (FIG. 8) or othersupport surface (not illustrated). Accordingly, at least one frameextension 9 is telescopically extendable from the base frame member 8.The target support frame member 14 is attached to the frame extension orextensions 9 typically in a manner which will be hereinafter described.In the embodiment of the support frame 2 illustrated in FIGS. 1-8, afirst frame extension 9 a is telescopically extendable from the baseframe member 8; a second frame extension 9 b is telescopicallyextendable from the first frame extension 9 a; and a third frameextension 9 c is telescopically extendable from the second frameextension 9 b. The target support frame member 14 is provided on thethird frame extension 9 c. However, it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that any number of frame extensions 9 may be providedbetween the base frame member 8 and the target support frame member 14depending on the desired height adjustability of the main frame member 2a. Therefore, the length or height of the main frame member 2 a may beselected by extending a selected length of the first frame extension 9 afrom the base frame member 8; a selected length of the second frameextension 9 b from the first frame extension 9 a; and a selected lengthof the third frame extension 9 c from the second frame extension 9 b.The first frame extension 9 a, the second frame extension 9 b and thethird frame extension 9 c may be secured at the selected extendedlengths by, for example selective rotation of a first lock sleeve 10 a;a second lock sleeve 10 b; and a third lock sleeve 10 c which areprovided on the base frame member 8, the first frame extension 9 a andthe second frame extension 9 b, respectively. In the cross-sectionalview of the main frame member 2 a which is illustrated in FIG. 5, themain frame member 2 a is deployed in the collapsed configuration withthe first frame extension 9 a; the second frame extension 9 b; and thethird frame extension 9 c disposed inside the base frame member 8.

The target support frame member 14 may be attached to the frameextension or extensions 9 according to any suitable technique which isknown by those skilled in the art. As indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4,in some embodiments, the target support frame member 14 is rotatablymounted with respect to the third frame extension 9 c. Accordingly, asillustrated in FIG. 1A, a mount pin 12 (illustrated in phantom) extendsfrom the third frame extension 9 c. The mount pin 12 further extendsthrough a mount pin opening (not illustrated) provided in the targetsupport frame member 14. A mount pin cap 11 may be threadably orotherwise attached to the protruding end portion of the mount pin 12 tosecure the target support frame member 14 to the third frame extension 9c.

Each simulated target 21 may be attached to the target support framemember 14 according to any suitable technique which is known by thoseskilled in the art. For example, each simulated target 21 may beprovided on a first end of a corresponding target support rod 19 whichextends from the target support frame member 14 and is attached to thetarget support rod 19 according to the knowledge of those skilled in theart. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, multiple target rod mount openings15 may extend through the target support frame member 14 at spaced-apartintervals with respect to each other, on each side of the mount pin cap11. The target support rod 19 of the first simulated target 21 a and thetarget support rod 19 of the second simulated target 21 b extend throughrespective target rod mount openings 15, typically on respective sidesof the mount pin cap 11. A wing nut 20 may be threaded on a second endof each target mount rod 19 and tightened against the target supportframe member 14 to secure the target mount rod 19 to the target supportframe member 14. The longitudinal axis of each target mount rod 19 maybe disposed generally in the same plane as the longitudinal axis of themain frame member 2 a and the longitudinal axis of the target supportframe member 14 of the assembly support frame 2. As illustrated in FIGS.6 and 7, the first simulated target 21 a and the second simulated target21 b may be re-positioned on the target support frame member 14 at aselected lead spacing with respect to each other by unthreading the wingnuts 20 from the respective target support rods 19; removing the targetsupport rods 19 from the respective target rod mount openings 15;relocating the target support rods 19 and simulated targets 21 to thenew positions indicated by the phantom lines in FIGS. 6 and 7; insertingthe target support rods 19 through a second pair of target rod mountopenings, respectively, which correspond to the new positions; andthreading the wing nuts 20 back onto the respective target mount rods19.

Each simulated target 21 may generally resemble the appearance of a claypigeon and may include at least one or multiple concentric target disks22 disposed in a stacked or stepped configuration with respect to eachother. As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, in some embodiments, the largest ofthe target disks 22 is provided on the first end of the target supportrod 19. The other target disks 22 of progressively descending diameterare stacked on the largest target disk 22. In some embodiments, astandard or conventional clay pigeon (not illustrated) can be placed onthe target support rod 19 such as, for example, by drilling an opening(not illustrated) in the clay pigeon and inserting the upper end of thetarget support rod 19 into the opening.

Referring next to FIGS. 8-10 of the drawings, in typical application,the stationary target assembly 1 is deployed in generally vertical orupward-standing relationship with respect to the ground 24 (FIG. 8) orother support (not illustrated), preparatory to a practice shooter's(not illustrated) aiming of a shotgun 26 (FIGS. 9 and 10) at one or bothsimulated targets 21 in a simulated sighting of a clay pigeon or othermoving object (not illustrated) with the shotgun 26. Accordingly, asillustrated in FIG. 8, the stake insertion tip 5 of the stake 4 isinserted in the ground 24, with the lower end of the base frame member 8typically resting on the surface of the ground 24. The height of themain frame member 2 a of the assembly support frame 2 may be selected tosupport the first simulated target 21 a and the second simulated target21 b at the selected height above the ground 24 typically by telescopicextension of the frame extension or extensions 9 from the base framemember 8 and each other and locking of the frame extension or extensions9 at the selected extended lengths typically by rotation of the locksleeve or sleeves 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the first simulated target 21 a is assembledon the target support frame member 14 typically by extending the targetsupport rod 19 through a selected one of the spaced-apart target rodmount openings 15 provided in the target support frame member 14 andthreading a wing nut 20 (FIG. 1) on the target support rod 19. Thesecond simulated target 21 b may initially be removed or omitted fromthe target support frame member 14. A bead sight (not illustrated),which may be fluorescent, may be positioned on the shotgun 26. Thepractice shooter (not illustrated) grips the shotgun 26 (FIG. 9) andstands at a selected distance (such as 33 yards, for example) from thefirst simulated target 21 a of the stationary target assembly 1, mountsthe shotgun 26 and aims the shotgun 26 at the first simulated target 21a along a straight sight line 27. The practice shooter repeats thisaction until he or she is proficient at mounting and aiming of theshotgun 26 at the first simulated target 21 a.

Next, with both of his or her eyes open, the practice shooter stares atthe first simulated target 21 a for a selected period of time, such as 5seconds, for example, and mounts the shotgun 26 without taking his orher eyes off the first simulated target 21 a. The practice shooter maythen squeeze the trigger (not illustrated) of the shotgun 26 with thesafety (not illustrated) of the shotgun 26 in the “on” position or witha snap cap (not illustrated) in the chamber (not illustrated) of theshotgun 26. Before dismounting of the shotgun 26, the practice shootercloses his or her non-shooting eye and verifies that the bead sight (notillustrated) of the shotgun 26 is directed toward the first simulatedtarget 21 a and repeats this action. In the event that the bead is notdirected toward the first simulated target 21 a, the practice shooterensures that the shooting eye is the dominant eye. The practice shooterfocuses on the first simulated target 21 a with his or her peripheralvision to ensure that the bead sight on the shotgun 26 covers the firstsimulated target 21 a. This action may be repeated until the practiceshooter ensures that the location of the bead sight coincides with thelocation of the practice shooter's stare at the first simulated target21 a.

When the practice shooter becomes proficient at mounting and aiming ofthe shotgun 26 at the first simulated target 21 a, the second simulatedtarget 21 b may be assembled on the target support frame member 14. Inmounting of the second simulated target 21 b with the first simulatedtarget 21 a on the target support frame member 14, the position of thefirst simulated target 21 a represents the position which wouldcorrespond to the position of a moving object when the trigger of theshotgun 26 is pulled and the position of the second simulated target 21b represents the position which would correspond to the position of themoving object when the pellets from the shotgun 26 reach the movingobject. The lead spacing between the first simulated target 21 a and thesecond simulated target 21 b may depend on the speed of the movingobject which is represented by the simulated targets 21.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the practice shooter (not illustrated)visually focuses on the first simulated target 21 a while mounting theshotgun 26 and aiming the shotgun 26 at the second simulated target 21 busing the practice shooter's peripheral vision. This focused view (shotpicture) of the first simulated target 21 a is held in the practiceshooter's field of vision for typically a one-second delay before thepractice shooter pulls the trigger (not illustrated) of the shotgun 26.The typically one-second delay trains the practice shooter to place theshotgun 26 in the proper position in an actual shooting situation andmay be repeated to entrain this proper position of the shotgun 26 intothe practice shooter's mind. The practice shooter may walk around thestationary target assembly 1 and learn the shot pictures for variousangles, in a similar manner. Next, the bead sight (not illustrated) maybe removed from the shotgun 26 and the mounting and aiming steps whichwere outlined herein above with respect to FIGS. 9 and 10 repeated tofurther train the practice shooter's ability to mount the shotgun 26 andaim the shotgun 26 at the moving target without the use of the beadsight.

Referring next to FIGS. 11-14 of the drawings, it will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that the first simulated target 31 a (such asin the stationary target assembly 1 a illustrated in FIGS. 11-13), orboth the first simulated target 35 a and the second simulated target 35b (such as in the stationary target assembly 1 b illustrated in FIG.14), may simulate the appearance of a game fowl, for example.Accordingly, the fowl-configured simulated targets may be assembled onthe target support frame member 14, and the stationary target assembly 1a and 1 b used typically in the manner which was heretofore describedwith respect to the stationary target assembly 1 in FIGS. 8-10, to traina practice shooter in mounting and aiming the shotgun 26 at a flyingfowl (not illustrated) in fowl hunting. As illustrated with respect tothe stationary target assembly 1 a illustrated in FIG. 11, the secondsimulated target 31 b may be configured in the shape of a sphere toenable the practice shooter to further differentiate between the firstsimulated target 31 a and the second simulated target 31 b during thetraining exercise. The stationary target assembly 1 a may be used totrain a practice shooter (not illustrated) in the mounting and aiming ofa shotgun 26 at the first simulated target 31 a and the second simulatedtarget 31 b, as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 and as was heretoforedescribed with respect to the simulated target assembly 1 which washeretofore described with respect to FIGS. 8-10.

Referring next to FIG. 15 of the drawings, still another illustrativeembodiment of the stationary target assembly is generally indicated byreference numeral 1 c. The stationary target assembly 1 c has anassembly support frame 36 which includes a main frame member 38 having atripod 39 with three tripod legs 40. Pivoting leg connectors 41 mayconnect the tripod legs 40. A generally elongated base frame member 44extends from the tripod 39. At least one frame extension 45 istelescopically extendable from the base frame member 44. In someembodiments, a first frame extension 45 a is telescopically extendablefrom the base frame member 44 and a second frame extension 45 b istelescopically extendable from the first frame extension 45 a. A firstlock sleeve 46 a may be provided on the base frame member 44 and asecond lock sleeve 46 b may be provided on the first frame extension 45a to selectively lock the first frame extension 45 a with respect to thebase frame member 44 and the second frame extension 45 b with respect tothe first frame extension 45 a. Accordingly, the tripod 39 facilitatessupport of the stationary target assembly 1 c on a flat support surface(not illustrated).

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been describedabove, it will be recognized and understood that various modificationscan be made in the invention and the appended claims are intended tocover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

1. A stationary target assembly, comprising: an assembly support framehaving a main frame member and a target support frame member carried bysaid main frame member; and a pair of spaced-apart simulated targetscarried by said target support frame member of said assembly supportframe.
 2. The stationary target assembly of claim 1 wherein said mainframe member of said assembly support frame is length-adjustable.
 3. Thestationary target assembly of claim 1 wherein said main frame member ofsaid assembly support frame comprises a frame mount sleeve, a stakehaving a stake insertion tip extending from said frame mount sleeve, abase frame member extending through said frame mount sleeve and at leastone frame extension telescopically extendable from said base framemember, and wherein said target support frame member is carried by saidat least one frame extension.
 4. The stationary target assembly of claim1 wherein at least one of said pair of spaced-apart simulated targetscomprises at least one target disk carried by said target support framemember.
 5. The stationary target assembly of claim 1 wherein at leastone of said pair of spaced-apart simulated targets simulates theappearance of a game fowl.
 6. The stationary target assembly of claim 1wherein each of said pair of spaced-apart simulated targets comprises atleast one target disk carried by said target support frame member. 7.The stationary target assembly of claim 1 wherein each of said pair ofspaced-apart simulated targets simulates the appearance of a game fowl.8. The stationary target assembly of claim 1 wherein said main framemember of said assembly support frame comprises a tripod having aplurality of tripod legs, a base frame member carried by said tripod andat least one frame extension telescopically extendable from said baseframe member, and wherein said target support frame member is carried bysaid at least one frame extension.
 9. A stationary target assembly,comprising: an assembly support frame having a generally elongated mainframe member and a generally elongated target support frame membercarried by and disposed in generally perpendicular relationship withrespect to said main frame member; a pair of spaced-apart target supportrods carried by said target support frame member of said assemblysupport frame; and a pair of simulated targets carried by said pair ofspaced-apart target support rods, respectively, of said assembly supportframe.
 10. The stationary target assembly of claim 9 wherein said mainframe member of said assembly support frame is length-adjustable. 11.The stationary target assembly of claim 9 wherein said main frame memberof said assembly support frame comprises a frame mount sleeve, a stakehaving a stake insertion tip extending from said frame mount sleeve, abase frame member extending through said frame mount sleeve and at leastone frame extension telescopically extendable from said base framemember, and wherein said target support frame member is carried by saidat least one frame extension.
 12. The stationary target assembly ofclaim 9 wherein said pair of simulated targets comprises a plurality ofstacked target disks carried by said pair of spaced-apart target supportrods, respectively.
 13. The stationary target assembly of claim 9wherein said pair of simulated targets each simulates the appearance ofa game fowl.
 14. The stationary target assembly of claim 9 wherein afirst one of said pair of simulated targets simulates the appearance ofa game fowl and a second one of said pair of simulated targets is shapedin the configuration of a sphere.
 15. The stationary target assembly ofclaim 9 wherein said pair of spaced-apart target support rods isadjustable along said target support frame member.
 16. The stationarytarget assembly of claim 15 further comprising a plurality ofspaced-apart target rod mount openings provided in said target supportframe member and wherein said pair of spaced-apart target support rodsextends through a pair of said target rod mount openings, respectively.17. A stationary target assembly, comprising: an assembly support framecomprising: a generally elongated and length-adjustable main framemember including a base frame member and at least one frame extensionextending from said base frame member; and a generally elongated targetsupport frame member carried by said at least one frame extension anddisposed in generally perpendicular relationship with respect to saidmain frame member; a pair of spaced-apart target support rods carried bysaid target support frame member of said assembly support frame; and apair of simulated targets carried by said pair of spaced-apart targetsupport rods, respectively, of said assembly support frame.
 18. Thestationary target assembly of claim 17 further comprising a frame mountsleeve and a stake having a stake insertion tip carried by said framemount sleeve, and wherein said base frame member of said assemblysupport frame extends through said frame mount sleeve.
 19. Thestationary target assembly of claim 17 wherein said pair of spaced-aparttarget support rods is adjustable along said target support framemember.
 20. The stationary target assembly of claim 19 furthercomprising a plurality of spaced-apart target rod mount openingsprovided in said target support frame member and wherein said pair ofspaced-apart target support rods extends through a pair of saidplurality of spaced-apart target rod mount openings, respectively.